YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office insists the county board of elections made the correct decision in not permitting Douglas Bobovnyik to be an independent candidate for sheriff because he failed to meet qualifications to be eligible.

In a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court, which is deciding the case, the county prosecutor’s office wrote Bobovnyik “cannot show by clear and convincing evidence that he has a clear legal right to have his name placed on the ballot nor that the board had a clear legal duty to certify his candidacy to the ballot.”

The Ohio Supreme Court will determine whether Bobovnyik is eligible to be a sheriff’s candidate.

Attorneys for Bobovnyik, a retired Youngstown police lieutenant, filed an appeal June 24 of the board of elections’ May 26 vote not to certify him the ballot.

The board unanimously voted not to keep Bobovnyik from being a candidate over a residency issue and because he never submitted a required criminal background check.

Also, the prosecutor’s office filing states Bobovnyik “failed to provide or verify proof” of another requirement — a document showing that he is a U.S. citizen, has a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid peace officer certificate of training, proof of at least two years of supervisory experience or at least two years of post-secondary education.

At the May 26 hearing, Bobovnyik said he rented an apartment at a used car lot on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown beginning March 1, 2019, to establish residency in the county for at least a year so he could be eligible to run for sheriff. He said he moved from Austintown to an apartment on Fairgrounds Boulevard in Canfield on March 1 of this year at the insistence of his wife.

He also owns a house on Shamrock Arbor Drive in Salem in Columbiana County. His wife lives there full time and he spends time there. Bobovnyik is the sole owner of the Salem house and receives a homestead exemption. The latter means he considers it his principal residence, the prosecutor’s filing states.

Also, the court filing states the Mahoning Avenue lease was “a commercial lease with his business I-Deal AutoSales for the sole purpose of auto sales,” and “the lease did not reference an apartment nor was (Bobovnyik) permitted under the lease to reside there.”

Bobovnyik’s attorney, in their filing, wrote the second floor apartment contains living quarters.

The board “abused its discretion, applied erroneous legal standards and misconstrued the facts” when its members disqualified Bobovnyik, his attorneys contend.

They added that the board “continues to rely on incorrect legal principles” that “a married couple may not establish separate residences. And so, having gotten the legal standards wrong, it is of course no surprise that the board’s evaluation of the evidence is similarly flawed.”

Bobovnyik’s attorneys wrote their client “was not aware of receiving a homestead exemption for (the Salem) property nor was he aware of applying for one.”

The only sheriff candidate on the November ballot is incumbent Jerry Greene, a Boardman Democrat.

The prosecutor’s office filing states Bobovnyik also isn’t eligible to run for sheriff because he failed to ensure the board was notified of a search of local, state and national fingerprint files to disclose any criminal record by the March 16 deadline and provide verification of his qualifications to John M. Durkin, the administrative judge of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court – both of which are required to be a sheriff candidate under state law. To date, neither has been given to the board of elections.

Bobovnyik “clearly failed to satisfy the requirements set forth in (state law) to be a candidate for sheriff,” the prosecutor’s office wrote. “The board’s decision that (Bobovnyik) failed to meet the requirements was based on substantial evidence. There was no abuse of discretion and no clear misapplication of the law.”

Bobovnyik’s attorneys wrote their client was fingerprinted March 2 with the results mailed to Durkin and it is the judge’s responsibility to provide that information to the board of elections.

In response, the prosecutor’s office wrote Durkin “never received the results of (Bobovynik’s) fingerprint search.”

They added: “Failure to timely submit the results of a candidate’s fingerprint search to the board of elections in a race for county sheriff renders the candidate ineligible to run for that office.”

The prosecutor’s office also said Bobovnyik isn’t eligible because “he failed to verify his actual qualifications for sheriff” by filling out “an application for sheriff” that includes proof that he has the minimum requirements to run for the job.

Bobovnyik’s attorneys wrote that except for the fingerprint and residency issues, the board of elections has no proof that the retired officer doesn’t meet the other requirements. They added the “newly-crafted and never-before asserted claim that (Bobovnyik) didn’t comply with (the other requirements) is untimely and without merit in any event.”